RESTORE Council funds utilized to acquire conservation easement in Goliad County

In conjunction with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has purchased a conservation easement on O'Connor Ranch in Goliad County, protecting approximately 6,410 acres of the largest remaining coastal prairie habitat in Texas.

"This is a huge milestone, not only for Texas, but the entire Gulf Coast," said Steven Schar, Deputy Executive Director with TCEQ and Governor Greg Abbott's designee to the RESTORE Council. "This is the largest conservation easement acquired to-date by the RESTORE Council and ensures critical coastal habitat will remain intact for future generations."

The conservation easement was purchased for $8.863 million, funded through a $7.6 million grant administered by TCEQ as the State of Texas' representative to the RESTORE Council, with the remaining funds provided by TNC.

"The RESTORE Council is very pleased to support the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality's and The Nature Conservancy's efforts to protect critical coastal prairie habitat on Texas family ranchlands," said Mary Walker, Executive Director of the RESTORE Council. "Conservation of such valuable natural habitat is a key strategy to support ecosystem health, and effective partnerships such as this one are essential to Gulf restoration success. We commend TCEQ and TNC for this meaningful effort to advance Gulf Coast restoration and maintain the productivity of these important agricultural lands."

The RESTORE Council membership consists of the governors from all five gulf states and executive leadership of six federal agencies. This is the first conservation easement approved by the RESTORE Council and the largest land protection deal in the Gulf that the RESTORE act has funded. The O'Connor Ranch will remain a private working cattle ranch while the conservation easement provides protection to coastal prairie habitat from development and habitat fragmentation. The intact grassland will continue to deliver essential benefits such as buffering from floods and hurricanes, cleaning air and water, and storing carbon.

"The O'Connor Ranch marks conservation milestones from one of the first major permanent protections in Texas' largest intact coastal prairie to the first conservation easement purchased with RESTORE funding," said Jeff Francell, associate director of land protection for TNC in Texas. "The Nature Conservancy is grateful for this collaborative effort that helped make securing a family legacy in a key conservation area possible."

The RESTORE program in Texas administers funds from the federal Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE ACT). These funds come from civil penalties related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and are used to support ecological restoration, economic development, coastal protection, and community resilience projects along the Texas Gulf Coast.

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together.